


The Highs and Lows of a New Year

by Shatterpath



Series: Pyramid [14]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alex is sometimes too brave for her own damn good, Amputation, Angst, Angst and Feels, Danvers sisters rock, F/F, Family Drama, Fluff, Hospitalization, Lena is the best soft girlfriend, New Year's Eve, Sex Toys, Sexcapades, Smuffy?, Smut, Surgery, background Sawlane, did you?, established pairing, ominous warning signs on the horizon...., you didn't think I REALLY forgot about their shopping trip online
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-01-25 06:21:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12524980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterpath/pseuds/Shatterpath
Summary: Things have been going at a breakneck pace in all the good and bad ways for Alex and Lena. Particularly since the raid on Cadmus just two weeks before. They need some alone time to justbewith each other.But things always seem to come with a price with these two, don't they…Takes place on New Year's Eve, 2016 and New Year's Day, 2017.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I hate having nothing new out there! Now, this piece isn't done, so I'll only be adding chapters once a week; besides, I like to tease whoever is still around reading! These are NOT SAFE FOR WORK OR YOUNG EYEBALLS. Things are gonna get STEAMY, so be warned.
> 
> And yes, I did have fun defiling Alex's gray couch! Thank you for noticing! -evil laugh-

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But Alex barely heard them, because mixed in with the bills and junk mail was a box. It was plain brown cardboard, about the size of a smallish loaf of bread, with a single sticker amidst the stamped information from the postal service. The discrete letterhead read simply, Bad Dragon.

"Asshole, you're supposed to be resting after your little jaunt with Shan a couple days ago!"

Lucy's noisy derision carried over the phone in the form of a rude snort. "As if you can talk, jackass. The only reason you're not pissing off every doctor between the DEO and UCNC Medical Center is because you're whiiiiiiiipped." 

The sing-song mockery on that last word might have annoyed Alex in the past, but now she shrugged it off. It was a truth she wasn't ashamed of.

"Sticks and stones, Tiny Terror. Whine all you want, I'm not coming over there to entertain you."

"You chickenshit! You're just afraid I'm going to shower you in tiny sugar dicks!"

Holding her phone to her ear while she awkwardly opened her mailbox, Alex sighed in some small regret for the gift bag she'd handed over from the Pleasure Chest. Their antics over the kinky swag had sent Maggie hobbling for the bathroom, hiccupping and nearly crying from laughing so hard.

"Lucy, I gave dick up, remember?"

The splutter of surprised amusement nearly drowned out Maggie's howl of laughter in the background.

( **AUTHOR'S NOTE** : Hands down, Alex's best comeback in this entire saga. I laughed myself to tears over it. theillogicalthinker said: Hahahahaha! Oh man. They're a hoot)

"Damn, Danvers, I had no idea you were such a scream! Lucifer, leave her alone or no slap and tickle at midnight."

"Rude!"

But Alex barely heard them, because mixed in with the bills and junk mail was a box. It was plain brown cardboard, about the size of a smallish loaf of bread, with a single sticker amidst the stamped information from the postal service. The discrete letterhead read simply, Bad Dragon.

Whoo boy…

"You know what, Lane? Not only am I not coming over there now, I'm calling it right now. We're gonna be late as hell. Take care of the kid, willya?"

"Oh, hell no! You can't drop a hint like that and bail!"

"Watch me," Alex sing-songed mockingly and crouched to stuff everything in her backpack. "Tell Kara not to get too curious or we'll scandalize her. I have plans for my lady, so get the hell off my phone and let Maggie entertain you. Happy New Year, Hellions, bye!"

"Aaaaaaaaaalex!" Lucy wailed as Alex tapped 'end call' and turned the phone to vibrate only. Doubtlessly she was going to be a pest all night. By the time she'd gotten to her damn door, the phone had already buzzed a half dozen times.

_You're the fucking worst!_  
_I hope you have a terrible time_  
_Getting laid while everyone else suffers_  
_Kara's gonna be a goddamn pain_  
_Especially when she hears you banging her best friend_  
_I'm telling hte kid!_

It was almost enough to convince her to respond, but she had other priorities now. Setting everything down and ignoring the wall of text messages, she thumbed over to 'Lee' and tapped out her own message.

_Come home, love. The bad dragon and I have plans for you._

Now, to get ready.

 

\----

There was no mistaking the use of bad dragon in Alex's text and Lena was jittery with anticipation. Oh, please let this a hint of how her evening was going to go! She was dying for her Al's touch, to just let loose and give her lover all of herself, nothing held back. Her panties and possibly her skirt were ruined and she just needed this damn day to be over, already!

Yesterday, they had both been finally over the monthly bleed, but too exhausted to do more than cuddle and make out a bit. Besides, Tilly had been curled up in her favorite spot on Alex's legs with her head on her belly. A favorite spot that was made even better when Lena draped herself down Alex's side, their larger bodies making Tilly feel safe and protected.

Thankfully, no one wanted to be working on New Year's Eve with the added insult of it being a Saturday, so Lena ran a smirking Jess out, right on her tail.

"Hot date?" Jess teased wryly and Lena sighed, lovesick and horny.

"God I hope so."

Neither of them had been thrilled with working a long Saturday, but sometimes the job meant accommodating an inconvenient other party or several. 

"She does like to tease me," Lena was shocked to hear herself say somewhat dreamily and Jess blinked for a moment before bursting into laughter. Lena could feel the hot flush crawl up her neck and ears.

"Fits with your tiger theme, eh?"

It was so odd to have this new dynamic with Jess after so long, yet completely organic at the same time. For all the chaos that had come into her life with the Danvers sisters, she had no complaints at all.

They giggled like schoolgirls all the way to the lobby and out into the blustery day. With farewells and promises to see one another at the lofts later, the friends separated, Lena climbing into the waiting car where the security-cleared driver waited with alert eyes. Then it was more waiting while they moved with traffic about the city and Lena tried and failed to ignore her hormones.

And the scattering of text messages that dropped into her phone.

_That green slip has been on my mind. I want to feel it again, your warm skin underneath it while I explore._  
_The way you sound won't get out of my head._  
_Hungry babe? I am._  
_I'm gonna make you so late!_

Happy to have a distraction, Lena tapped at her phone for a little payback.

_Well, the green slip is across town. Will nothing do?_  
_I look forward to scandalizing your neighbors again._  
_Starving._  
_I'll bet you're efficient enough to have covered for us already. If not, the teasing we're in for will be worth it!_

She could easily picture that beautiful smile that spoke so much of what her Al was thinking and feeling. Well, maybe there was something she could do to encourage that even more.

Chewing nervously at her lip, Lena stared at the back of the driver's head and felt the wild urge sink into her bones. Would he notice? 

Did she really care?

Trying not to call undue attention to her squirming, Lena hiked up her skirt enough to hook her thumbs into the elastic beneath and pull her underwear loose. She could smell the scent of her need fill the car, swallowing hard in lust and absolute embarrassment. Thankfully, neither car nor driver so much as twitched. Though for the background check the service had been put through, the driver better not flinch.

Horniness was making her bitchy and Lena was so, so grateful to recognize the neighborhood.

"The curb is fine. We're due at a party in a few hours, but feel free to wander off for a bit. I'll give you a head's up when we're getting ready to go," she said tensely, not giving him time to get the door and barely hearing the 'yes ma'am' that trailed out after her hasty exit. The cold draft up her coat and skirt was disconcerting, but a lusty reminder that she was so close!

The elevator was torturously slow and she was glad to not be carrying a proper gun to shoot out the musak speakers. As it was, the taser almost made an appearance. Then the stamp of her heels and the fumbling of keys at her door must have alerted Alex and half her floor of her arrival. 

Anticipation did not fail her, Alex just leaning back from setting the remote control down, her smile arrogant enticement. She was dressed in a thin, silky robe of some dark neutral color Lena's brain had no capacity to identify in the moment, utterly distracted by the curves both hidden and highlighted.

"Lock the door, Love, and come here."

It almost didn't register and that smirk deepened to an overconfidence that would have been almost annoying if Lena were less horny.

"Door, Lena."

Yanking her eyes away from her lover, Lena slapped the deadbolt shut hard enough to hurt before dropping her bags with a thud and struggling out of her coat as she hurried over to the couch.

"You ruined me for getting anything else done today," she whined needily, soaking up that lusty smile.

"Did I?" Alex teased, offering her good hand for balance as Lena hiked up her skirt indecently high to straddle her lap. They both relished the dovetailing closeness of their bodies, curves and angles fitting perfectly.

"Yes," Lena hissed, pressing in close and curling her arms around Alex's head so that she could lean back comfortably. "Ruined me. Feel. I've been a wet mess for hours. Days. Possibly weeks."

Lena didn't know how her lover made a filthy leer such an endearing expression, but there was the truth of it. Reluctantly, she shifted her hips back, hissing with pleasure at the stroke of that strong hand over her knee and thigh, blunt nails tickling at her skin. There was an awkward moment of limb coordination, Alex snorting out a half-annoyed chuckle that turned into a mutual groan as her hand slipped beneath the serious business skirt. Past the silky softness of inner thigh where there was a distinct lack of any barrier between blind touch and her goal.

"Were you bare-assed in the car?" Alex asked softly, her voice a dangerous purr, as much a thrill as her touch. Lena made a soft hum, high-pitched and throaty, so close to getting what she wanted so bad. Hugging Alex's head close, she pressed their foreheads together, mingled breath as intimate as any kiss.

"Yes… needed your touch so bad. I've…"

Words garbled silent as calloused fingertips brushed over coarsely-soft hairs and found the hot slick within. And while Lena loved her tenderness, she needed something else at this closing of a tumultuous year.

"I've never done something like that. Need you, Tiger, just fuck me. Talk later."

Alex's low chuckle was pure sex as she slithered fingertips through the copious wet until she found her goal, unsurprised when her wound-up lover thrust forward, hard and demanding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Random IM bits:  
> Shatterpath: JESS SO SHIPS IT  
> theillogicalthinker: Look, It's the most buoyant ship to ever sail  
> Shatterpath: Jess is greatly amused by Teenage Hormone Lena  
> theillogicalthinker: Like next level case of sex on the brain  
> Shatterpath: dude, Lee's ditching her panties IN THE CAR, because it amuses me  
> theillogicalthinker: Girl is all about easy access. And she's a ho for the right somebody. And that somebody happens to be Alex
> 
> Shatterpath: WELL THEN, this makes the New Years story a less taxing project! :D  
> theillogicalthinker: Hahahahahaha. We kind of smashed out a lot of smut ideas. And there's always more  
> Shatterpath: and I really believe they're at, or damn close to, a point where they can start branching out.  
> theillogicalthinker: We're kinky bastards and they are by extension. They've been growing towards this. They've affirmed their places in each other's lives. They're committing to a life together


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once again wrapping her arms around Alex's head, Lena stared into those beautiful eyes and slowly rolled her hips in a blatant come on. Sure enough, the earth-toned irises thinned out as Alex's expression went stark and hungry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say here, but hang on tight, it's gonna be a wild ride! And keep an eye out for prying eyes…
> 
> Though, I gotta say, the line, "Like my own sexy swiss army knife." Is a personal favorite and makes me laugh affectionately at these muses. LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

It was a quick, rough romp of rustling cloth, whining need and a hard, gasping orgasm. Alex wallowed in the overheated weight of Lena draped all over her, breathing hard. A nudge got her hand back, but not without a reluctant grumble.

Despite loving Lena's trustingly sprawled body warm against her, Alex knew there were more fun and games on the menu for their evening.

"So we got a surprise in the mail today."

The matter-of-fact statement brought Lena's head up, eyes already interested. "I was really hoping that's what you were hinting at."

"All scrubbed up and ready to go. You missed me laughing my ass off over the first batch of Teeny Weenies. I think I'm going to start strategically leaving them around to torment Lucy."

Humming distractedly in acknowledgment, Lena climbed to her feet, grinning over her shoulder when Alex stroked over her half-bare ass. The touch was more than just friendly as she leaned over to flip open the towel on the coffee table. 

"Oh," she purred at a kiss and hot lick over the curve of butt and hip. "That feels… good."

Alex only chuckled darkly and worked at the clasp and zipper at the back of the skirt while Lena palmed their new toy. While its purpose was fairly obvious, it was science-fiction enough in its details to be a bit misleading. And cast in ghost-white silicone with an iridescent sheen was interesting too.

"Handsome sculpture," she noted thoughtfully and grinned at her lover. "And only marginally dick-like. Do you like it?"

Alex shrugged and growled in small frustration with the fabric, finally leaning in to bite it for leverage. Lena almost swooned, shuddering at the blast of hot breath, the easing of the snug fabric, that mouth and nose nuzzling at her skin.

"And here I thought it was just your belly," Alex whispered hotly, curling her left arm around her lover, splaying her hand over the soft flesh and tense muscles beneath. "I've made a note to come back to this spot later."

A long swipe of tongue and a biting, suckling kiss in the hollow of her back nearly dropped Lena, her voice keening lustily. That had her tearing at her own shirt, not giving a damn about its well-being, dropping the toy in Alex's lap as she sat back to enjoy the show. No drawn out striptease, Lena shimmied out of her clothes in a clumsy hurry, egged on by the way the robe gaped down Alex's front, revealing bare skin and something skin-tight and white wrapped around her hips.

"You found a harness in white? How decadent. I've never heard of such a thing."

"Figured it'd match Trent the triceratops there."

Remembering the toy's silly dinosaur name, Lena shook her head, pausing only long enough to grab the small squeeze bottle of liquid in the towel.

"Your lube," Alex explained as she was once more straddled eagerly. "Figured a small bottle would be easier to deal with in the heat of the moment."

"My hero," Lena murmured into their kiss and pulled open the silky robe with more care than she'd shown her own clothes. "So prepared. Like my own sexy swiss army knife."

"Thank you, love, though not completely prepared. You'll have to, uh, get the thing in place. I didn't even try."

Perched out on Alex's knees, Lena took in the harness, which looked more like underwear or a swimsuit with a few extra straps and plastic tightening buckles. It read 'Spareparts Hardware' and had a logo above a ring sewn right into the silky, stretchy fabric. With a few giggles and a couple pulled hairs, the dildo rested snug in the stretchy ring, jutting away from Alex's body like a finger just curling to 'come hither'. 

"You're sure about this?" Alex heard herself say and almost face-palmed for ruining the mood. Swallowing down her twitchy horniness, Lena scooted forward until the toy was snugly trapped between their bellies. It took some effort to ignore the temptation to rub against the damn thing.

"I'm very sure. Are you?"

"I dunno, isn't this sort of… misogynistic?"

"Al." There was an edge of exasperation in Lena's voice, but mostly she was just adoring of her sensitive girlfriend. "I plan on riding you like a pornstar until I limp like I was winged by a train. The last thing I'm going to be thinking about is some male."

Once again wrapping her arms around Alex's head, Lena stared into those beautiful eyes and slowly rolled her hips in a blatant come on. Sure enough, the earth-toned irises thinned out as Alex's expression went stark and hungry.

"It's not about the equipment, my love, it's about the feel. And this will feel very good for me." That slow grin was pure enticement, echoed in the shift of Lena's lush body. Where her arms had naturally fallen around her, Alex gripped down more tightly, soaked up how that smile deepened. "I've wanted to watch you fuck me with no distractions for so long now, Tiger. Your focus is intoxicating, making me feel like the only person in your world. No one has ever done that for me. You make me crazy for you, and want to weep with joy for finding you."

"Sweet talker," Alex purred softly, her slow kisses sweet and hot. "It's mutual. Teach away, my love."

While Alex knew the mechanics of what they were about to do, watching Lena pour out a noisy squirt of the lube into her hand to ready herself and the toy was hotter than she expected it to be. The task might be clinical, but there was nothing but lusty heat behind it.

"Here we go," Lena teased, her voice rough, breath catching then blasting out as she pressed down the narrow head to get it lined up. Rather than watch the toy, Alex studied the expressive green eyes, the pupils expanding and contracting with mood. Sliding forward until their bellies almost touched, Lena froze and made a coarse sound that might have been alarming in a different circumstance. 

"You okay?" Alex whispered, nuzzling at her chin and rubbing her hand over that strong back.

"Our pal's a little thick. Oh, don't worry about me, just need a sec."

Sure enough, Alex could feel the slow release of tension in Lena's hips where she straddled her and she nestled close with a low moan.

"Oh yeah," she breathed. "Remind me to thank myself later for this gift."

It only took a grip in Alex's hair and a few slow movements of her hips to get Lena off again, her muscles trembling. Mouthing at her neck, Alex licked at the sweat and scent, flashed grinning teeth against her windpipe. "My poor love, so anxious and needy. It's sexy as hell. Take what you want, I'm with you. My love…"

Any sense of holding back fled Lena then, and she let the primitive, lusty parts of her brain take over, rut against her lover, fucking herself tender and satisfied. Anchored by Alex's hands and hot skin and whispering, adoring mouth, she lost track of time and place, and just trusted.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex figured her grin was filthy as she shifted to pressing hot, open-mouthed kisses over the same terrain, feeling Lena stir, muscles and vertebrae flexing and shifting. That soft moan of her foreshortened name gave her a thrill every time, an intimacy that was Lena's alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I admit it, the fun and games over the couch is pretty much what set this whole story in motion.

Lightheaded and sore, Alex woke with a start and stilled at Lena's petulant noise. They'd drifted to sleep in a sweaty tangle on the couch and Alex was pinned down by her lady's deadweight, but her bladder was insistent. It took some wiggling and quiet reassurances to get away, but she could finally escape, pulling down the underwear-like harness and taking care of business.

It was unfathomable to Alex that she was still rarin' to go. It felt like they'd been fucking for hours earlier, drenched in sweat and lube; animal and mineral both. The back of her head-- where Lena had done her best to nearly pull out handfuls of hair-- felt stiff and tacky like it had back in her punk phase. 

Cleaning up enough to be sanitary, Alex hesitated over the harness and dildo looking silly and forlorn around her ankles before pulling the contraption back on. A quick wipe with a washcloth slicked off dried lube and any dust the thing had picked up. As odd as Alex might have felt about it, Lena had really let loose, rough and needy as they fucked with the toy between them. It would be easy enough to ditch if they were done with it. 

If not…

With a quick side trip through the bedroom, Alex slipped into the fancy sling J'onn had bought her so that she could ignore her aching arm. A couple of the milder painkillers would help her focus. Really, she had to take it easier on the damn thing.

Out on the couch, Lena had clearly drifted off again, her body loose and open. Her left arm and leg had slid from the couch, the firelight playing over her curves, casting her softest place in deep shadow. Distracted by the beauty of her girlfriend, Alex almost stepped on the little bottle of lube where it had been forlornly dripping onto the gray rug.

Tucking the bottle into the sling, Alex braced herself against the back of the couch with her working arm and bent until she could trail the tickling tips of her too-long hair and the tip of her tongue over the dip where Lena's back curved into the roundness of her backside. She tasted of sweat and the faint hint of ozone from that fancy eco-friendly dry cleaners she used, hints of Alex's own sweaty hand groping at her while they screwed earlier. 

Alex figured her grin was filthy as she shifted to pressing hot, open-mouthed kisses over the same terrain, feeling Lena stir, muscles and vertebrae flexing and shifting. That soft moan of her foreshortened name gave her a thrill every time, an intimacy that was Lena's alone.

"You look so beautiful lying here," Alex murmured and soaked up the low, needy sound she elicited. "So soft and delectable."

Gathering herself, but still half-asleep, Lena shifted, ass and shoulders arching, muscles playing delightfully against Alex's mouth. In spite of being down an arm, she managed to nuzzle her way up that curled spine and ignored the tangled dark hairs that trailed over Lena's skin. She adored the feel of all that silky skin against her, brushing her belly and breasts and thighs, a coming home that would never grow old. 

"Hedonist," Lena sighed with pleasure at the kisses, flashes of teeth in the tenderness, that powerful body covering her like a hungry predator. Or mate. "Will you take me again? Just like this?"

There was no denying that vulnerable, needy tone and Alex ran through the scenarios of how the hell should could physically pull off the request.

"Do you still have it on?"

"Yeah, you just stay ready, babe. Gimmie a sec."

With a little awkward limb reshuffling and choking down an inappropriate giggle, Alex managed to get herself positioned and fish out the bottle. Thankfully, it was small enough to get her teeth around the soft plastic and bite down. At the moment, she didn't give a good god damn about her upholstery. With a handful of lube, she slicked up the toy and cupped Lena's softness in her hand, again thrilled at the heat and wet, the way her lover moaned at her touch. 

"Don't be gentle," Lena whispered, hips up and already rocking in anticipation. With a little maneuvering the rubbery toy, Alex got lined up and thrust home as she grabbed the back of the couch for leverage. The high-pitched grunt was music to her ears, Lena up on her elbows, head thrown back.

Still, with no free hand, Alex couldn't quite get into it, her growl frustrated. That was easily enough solved by a stilted conversation and position change, Lena kneeling splay-kneed on the couch, both hands on the back of it while Alex got both feet firmly on the floor and could get her one hand on her lady.

Then they were off.

Lena relished the change in pressures of the toy thrusting into her, the heat of Alex over her back and ass, that sucking, biting mouth on her shoulders and ribs.

It didn't take long before the apartment sounded like a wildlife exhibit.

Once Lena seemed satisfied and ready to collapse, Alex pulled out and sprawled on the chaise end of the couch to catch her breath. "I gotta start working out again. My stamina is shot."

"I appreciate your hard work," Lena purred and moved closer to plant a sloppy kiss on her before toddling off. Humming in acknowledgement to the compliment, Alex rested her left hand on her belly while Lena moved around in the bathroom. When something tapped her pinky, she startled and chuckled when she noticed that the dildo had curled back over her abdomen to tickle her hand. Feeling silly and playful, she flicked the tip and relaxed into the familiar embrace of her couch.

Indolent as her tiger nickname, Alex barely cracked an eye when Lena came back.

"Well, I have to admit, this is one of the more fun ways I've gotten full of lactic acid."

That made Lena chuckle and bend over to press an open-mouthed kiss to that muscled belly. "And they say romance is dead." More businesslike then, she lightly slapped Alex's hip. "Ass up, gorgeous. Let's get this off you for now."

While Lena skinned off the snug fabric of the harness, Alex ripped the sling's velcro loose and set it aside, stretching out her sore elbow. Tomorrow she'd go see the doctor about the damn thing. Right now, she had her hot lover kissing her way up her legs. Priorities. 

"We've made a mess of your couch," Lena hummed, thrilled at how Alex's breathing changed in response to her touch.

"It never occurred to me that I'd need to put towels down."

"My compliments to the chef."

Whatever coherent tease Alex had been trying to formulate went to gibberish as that lush mouth skimmed slowly over her pelvis, tongue dipping into the seam of torso and thigh. Wide brown eyes watched avidly as Lena kissed her way up that muscled torso, nuzzled at both breasts and placed reverent caresses over that strong heart. Then she flashed a wicked look and worked her slow way back down before coaxing Alex's knees apart and working to see if they could scandalize the neighbors once more.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, they're not done yet!

Some time passed in a daze that might have been a nap, neither was sure. Then Lena was once more pressing soft kisses to Alex's skin. Sluggish and a little stupid, Alex roused with a deep breath and an appreciative sound at the tenderness.

"Do you still have any gas in your tank?" Alex marveled and hurt at the way Lena flinched and her eyes skittered away. But she didn't get far, Alex catching her chin in a gentle pinch. "Hey, my sweet love, I was only admiring your stamina. I would never mock you making us both feel so good."

Grinning tremulously, Lena kissed her sweetly, hand wandering down Alex's torso. "Flatterer."

"Well, I hear it gets you everywhere. Can I kiss you, love?"

"Oh yes…"

For more long moments they kissed, felt that heat rise up again. Lena was nibbling a little nervously at her lip, speaking breathlessly as Alex kissed the nibbled lip free to be suckled seductively at.

"I'm exhausted and raw, but it feels so good, to have just completely let go with you."

"But?" Alex teased gently as she mouthed at bruises she'd already left on Lena's neck and relished the sharp shiver of reaction.

"But, yes," Lena sighed wantonly as she responded to her love's touch. "I still want you." 

"Well, convenient that I'm nice and relaxed and almost completely on my back. You should totally take advantage of that."

"You're sure?" Lena asked and the whine of neediness made Alex grin wolfishly.

"Damn right I am. Now get your fine ass up here."

With a flurry of limbs and a couple of embarrassing clonks of various body parts, Lena settled in, groaning almost pitifully at the feel of that tender, insistent mouth on her. It took some time, frustration closing in, before Lena grabbed Alex's hair and made a soft, unholy noise, body shaking.

Part of her wanted to yelp at the soft little hum of pleasure Alex made as she mouthed through the wet, half arousing and half in comfort. The little shuddery quakes of orgasm rolled through Lena for what felt like a long time, her brain and senses full of endorphins until at last she felt replete.

In a shaky-muscle haze, Lena managed to get herself sprawled down her lover's side, trading lazy kisses with her.

"Y'know, I feel really relaxed and close to you right now."

The comment was somewhat out of the blue, but Lena did love it when Alex's filter was off. Chuckling softly, she nuzzled at her jaw. "I would hope so, baby."

"Sooo," she drawled out and Lena began to realize this was one of their random serious moments. She raised her head up even as Alex rubbed at her pink cheeks, eyes evasive. "So you really like that thing, and I'm finding myself curious if it's not so bad if it's with someone I love and trust and I know my timing is weird, but--"

Shifting to press a long, sweet kiss over that strong heart-- and let her hair cascade over Alex's naked chest as a bonus-- stopped the nervous babble with a deep, ragged breath.

"It's not weird, Alex. Experimentation is healthy as long as you take care of yourself, well and your partner of course," Lena's grin was a sweetly shy flash and she eagerly obeyed the tug at her scalp to shift closer and lose herself in that adoring mouth for a bit. Despite literally aching with the sexual marathon, she was half-ready to straddle a strong thigh and get herself off again, but pushed that aside, gently stroking her lover's face and throat with tender fingers. "You don't have to be embarrassed with me, Tiger. I know that probably doesn't stop the embarrassment, but you don't have to be. We can absolutely give this a shot, and if you still don't like it, then we haven't lost a thing, right?"

As so often happened, the words soothed not just nerves and fear, but that constantly busy mind behind the expressive eyes, gone soft and trusting. "God I love you so much."

That naked adoration would never stop shaking Lena to her core and her smile was sweet and tremulous.

"Just no… thrusting," Alex said quietly and the obvious distaste on that last word would have been humorous had the situation not been so serious. 

"Everything and anything you want, my love," Lena hummed, setting about the pleasurable task of completely seducing her tiger. 

She dawdled lips and tongue and a flash of teeth here and there over Alex's warm skin. Throat and clavicles and the tender hollow between were loved on, long dark hair spilled across sensitized skin. Lena held nothing back, gently teasing and coaxing at Alex until she was a sweaty, panting wreck.

"Please, Lee, please," Alex begged softly, her whole body a long, slow squirm against the gray couch. "I don't think I'll ever be more ready to try this."

"My pleasure, love."

Oh, Lena knew this soft, warm place well, her avid fingertips caressing, but only for a moment, skimming downward, chasing the wet. She'd just skimmed the entrance to Alex's body before, swirled the wet out of her, fondled, even teased a little bit, but this would be very different. 

"Look at me," she half asked and half ordered, her voice soft. "I need to watch your eyes, please, Al, please."

And Alex could no more deny her plea then Lena had been able to resist her own. Eyes black as space stared helplessly, their noses just touching, as Lena just slipped a little inside. So it went, pleasure, a flash of discomfort that became a moment to adjust and a word of encouragement to continue on.

Index and middle slipped deeper and deeper, Lena wallowing in feeling how Alex was swollen and slick, blood-hot. The intimacy of this shook her to her bones, those soulful eyes echoing the trust and neediness of this act.

"My beautiful, amazing love," she whispered, holding that naked, needy gaze. "My beloved Alex, watch my eyes. This is me, the woman who loves you, inside of you. You're safe. Let go when you're ready, I'm right here."

They breathed together, getting used to that sensation of being knuckle-deep, connected in a way they had never been before. Long moments passed and with a long sigh, the last of the quiet tension in Alex's body gave way, feather-soft. 

"Lena," she murmured, sinking her fingers into the long, dark hair like an anchor. A flutter of movement in Lena's fingers was echoed in Alex's eyelids, her gaze unfocused. With tiny movements of her hand, Lena just barely brushed that feel-good spot inside, flexed the webbing of thumb and forefinger over the hard clit she cradled. 

Brown eyes black and hooded, Alex made herself stay focused on her intent lover, on the slow beat of pleasure that felt so different. It was a subtle flex, just a hint of curl that brushed whorled fingertips deep and intense, hips rocking in time. She became a loaded spring, waiting to be released, sobbing as the pleasure crashed over her, Lena breathing in time. Gently, she eased out as the aftershocks echoed, just leaving her fingertips inside as a quiet reminder.

Neither did more than breathe out the other's name and trade soft kisses for a long while. Finally, Alex's upper brain seemed to come back online and her smile was soft and a little vulnerable. "Yeah, we can do that again. Sometimes."

"When and if you're in the mood, you just ask. It felt amazing, to touch you so intimately, to watch your beautiful eyes."

Alex hugged her. Hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, let me say that I am adamantly 100% in support of any woman not being a fan of penetration. The events in this story of Alex pushing her boundaries, is just that, experimenting with her lover who she loves and trusts. Like real people, these characters will go through changes!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They dozed off, Alex's encircling arm warm around Lena's shoulders, thumb stroking behind her ear, and Lena's fingers kneading softly at Alex's inseam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To my ENORMOUS amusement, I noticed the word count of this piece brings us to 6669.
> 
> How appropriate.

Eventually, Alex reluctantly poked at an equally reluctant Lena to get moving. The steadied one another and stretched, naturally falling into an unsteady standing hug.

"Love you, Lee."

"Mmmm, I never get tired of hearing that. Love you too, Al."

"That couch seiously must look like a crime scene," Alex mused as she looked at her familiar piece of furniture and Lena laughed.

"I'll get it professionally cleaned. Come on, we're going to be even later than we already are."

"Think your driver's still out there?"

"Oh god, my driver!"

"Tell him to give us fifteen and meet me in the shower!"

They were both a mess, tacky with dried sweat and lube of both the animal and mineral sort. Lena was horrified at the strands of Alex's hair glued into the seams of her hands and the scratches she'd furrowed into that muscular back. Alex just kissed her and told her to take a look at her own neck and breasts in the mirror. 

There were even more of the love bruises on her ass and hip, more bites on her back and sides and she touched the ones she could reach with a feline grin.

"Jesus, Lee, you look smug," Alex said, trying to ignore the urge to take her right there against the bathroom counter. The coy bedroom eyes were not helping curb that urge any, either.

"Look what you did to me darling. You absolutely wrecked me. It's art."

Flushed pink, Alex made herself get in the shower and ignore Lena's throaty chuckle.

Much as they would have loved lingering, both knew it wasn't the right time and rushed through a basic scrub up. Lena whined about going out barefaced and with wet hair but was immediately placated with kisses and a thick Star Wars hoodie sweatshirt.

Dressed like a couple of nerdy college students, the couple rushed from the apartment building into the waiting car and sprawled out to catch their breath.

"Thanks, man," Alex called out as the car started moving. "We're going right back where we started earlier and then you can go catch the celebration wherever you like. We'll just be power napping back here."

They dozed off, Alex's encircling arm warm around Lena's shoulders, thumb stroking behind her ear, and Lena's fingers kneading softly at Alex's inseam.

The driver was good and just at the inside of a twenty minute power nap, he hopped out and opened the door to wake his charges. Well-honed instincts had Alex awake and alert in an instant, even as her tired body was a little slower to respond. Exchanging Happy New Year's with the driver, they stumbled into the old Hudson building to the elevator and leaned into one another for the short trip to the fourth floor.

"Oh hey. I bet we have a mess of bitchy text messages from Lucy," Alex chuckled against Lena's scalp and wearily dug her phone out to thumb it on. "Yup. And she restrained herself to only a few dozen."

"Remarkable."

Together they skimmed over the collection, completely amused by the antics of their excitable pal. They both agreed the best two were: _'I'm calling Clark to come spy on you'_ and _'WHY ARE YOU GETTING LAID AND I'M SO FUCKING CELIBATE RIGHT NOW'_

By that time they'd finally dawdled over to Kara's door, still so wrapped up in one another that it felt weird to be around people, to be away from the isolated little bubble of their evening lost in one another and the sex energy between them. They blinked a little owlishly at Eliza when she opened the door at their knock and took one look at them before rolling her eyes and pulling them inside.

"You made it! Yay!"

With that shout, Kara and Tilly raced over to nearly tackle the couple, the former wrinkling her nose up and then blinking when she spotted one of the hickeys just at the edge of the sweatshirt.

"Alex, you brute!" she yelped as Lucy stood up and began clapping like she was at the Oscars. Kara pouted fit to be seen from space. 

Tilly's embrace finally seemed to bring the couple out of their stupor and they picked her up to be lovingly squashed between them.

"Did you bite Mama Lena?"

Alex almost choked at Matilda's curiosity and faint outrage, but Lena merely shrugged it off. "From your Mama Alex, I don't mind, sweetie. It'll make more sense when you're older."

Well used to being confused by her new family, Tilly laid her head on Lena's shoulder and was carried off, rambling on about her evening while she played with a stray lock of dark hair.

"Good thing the kid can't see her naked," Alex muttered and looked embarrassed but proud of herself at the way Kara gawked and made a high-pitched cartoon noise of outrage.

To avoid Kara's lightly slapping hands, and still exhausted from her night, Alex retreated to the cluster of couches and chairs. Though with the way Lucy was practically wriggling with excitement to get on her case, maybe Kara's prudish outrage was safer. 

Amazingly, all Susan had to do was raise an imperious hand and Lucy subsided like a well trained puppy, though her expression remained overeager. 

"So," Susan drawled out in a misleading deadpan. "How's the hand?"

Lucy made a frustrated sound that became a yelp and she twisted to bat at a grinning Maggie.

"Sore," Alex played along, bracing herself as a faint hint of a filthy smile danced around Susan's serious mouth.

"I've known you for quite awhile Alex, and this might be the first time I've ever seen you look quite this relaxed."

With her mental filters shot to hell, Alex snorted rudely and didn't hold back. "Yeah well a dozen-ish orgasms will do that."

A startled laugh burst out of Susan. "A dozen, eh?"

"Ish!"

"You always were an overachiever, Danvers," Lucy interjected, but Susan carried on as though she didn't hear her.

"Together or individually?"

Squirming, Alex stared at her root beer as though she were the one with laser vision, but her smile was a sweet little curl of filthy. "Lost count."

While the vodka aunts howled with laughter and Winn looked both impressed and scandalized, Lena strutted over to reclaim her lover. Alex automatically sprawled back from her hunch around her bottle, body open and accessible. Lena curled up on the offered lap, tucking herself as close as possible, arms wound around the disheveled hair.

The 'mine' couldn't have been more clear if she'd fluffed up and hissed like a cat.

Alex fired a dry, dirty look at the vodka aunts who pretended to look innocent. "You perverts would probably love the details, but I'd rather not scar my mother and sister for life."

Though the glare she was trying for fell flat at the way she went unfocused as Lena nuzzled that already tender and pleasantly sore spot behind her ear. Her soft whisper was pure sex. "Mmm, I want you to fuck me again. Do you think they'd mind if I just rode you right now?"

Alex could only close her eyes and pray her expression didn't broadcast everything that she was feeling. Scoffing, Lucy grabbed her hard cider which Lena also liked, and shook it at her pal. "Need to cool off?"

The green eyes were hazy but playful when Lena left off her tormenting to give Lucy a smirk.

"No, I'm good. I just need a little of the hair of the dog that bit me, as it were."

That left Lucy puzzled and Lena's little smile was a warning of her closing volley.

"Sex hangover," she said matter-of-factly, timing it perfectly so that Maggie choked on her beer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES THAT REALLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN AT THE END OF LAST CHAPTER, BUT WHATEVER! So yeah, some random creation notes.
> 
> Shatterpath: gettin' ready to beg for it!  
> theillogicalthinker: You know she is. And honestly, Alex's ego likes a good stroking  
> Shatterpath: thank all the holies that Alex isn't prone to ego! To have Lena frickin' Luthor straddling her, begging for a good fucking? Daaaaaamn.... girl's hot as hell and obscenely rich and notorious. that could give ANYONE an ego  
> theillogicalthinker: Lena's basically promising to ride her good and begging for it rough Like girl, that's what dreams are made of. And Alex will totally deliver  
> Shatterpath: she's looking forward to it  
> theillogicalthinker: There will be a lot of riding Alex happening that night  
> Shatterpath: Lee's gonna be SO sore later, including half the heavy joints in her body!  
> theillogicalthinker: It'll be the good after sex, thoroughly fucked sore, but oh boy is she sore. Were the orgasms worth it? Fuck yeah. Totally just collapses on Alex at the end of it. 
> 
> theillogicalthinker: Lena is a #sizequeen #likesitrough #needsabout20orgasms #neededtobeeatenyesterday  
> Shatterpath: that poor couch... I agree with you that they need a night to just go wild. they had nights like that in Hawaii, but it's different now, their bond is solid, it's not just sex anymore! besides, you KNOW a completely fucked-out Lena is a flirty kitten  
> lazily kissing every square inch of skin she can reach. making Alex squirm by just barely teasing her nails over her skin and clawing her up by turns. Alex totally goads her into letting go. Wears the battle scars proudly  
> Shatterpath: she's going to be a tender, limping mess, NO REGRETS  
> theillogicalthinker: Lena does like to be filled and fucked good.  
> Shatterpath: she likes sweet and soft as much as anyone, but she's more than ready to be claimed  
> theillogicalthinker: So she enjoys a bit of girth and length. Just enough that she really feels it in the morning after a really good night. Girl knows what she likes so she guided their first purchases together.  
> Shatterpath: that's absolutely what she's craving. Even rough sex is a bond between them and they've been anxious as HELL lately  
> theillogicalthinker: They absolutely needed to fuck it out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unaware and uncaring of the commentary, Lena was lost in the arousal haze of her love's skin and scent, the soft hair her fingers were buried in. Alex was hypnotized. She'd had no idea her lady would be such a minx once strung out and sexed up. She was a touchy-feely purring mass of blatant flirting and come ons, purposefully trying to get Alex riled up again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Lena getting a zinger in on Maggie. It amuses me greatly! And more Lena and Bug sweetness, because I could not be more ecstatic at how well they work together.

"Dammit, Luthor, I like this shirt," Maggie groused mildly as she accepted a couple napkins from Winn and Alex scoffed to cover up the moan tickling at her throat. Lena's smirk was pure smugness before she once more snuggled into her lover, nuzzling her neck. Her whisper was low, a soft tease even Kryptonian ears would have had to focus to catch. The words tickled behind Alex's ear, that hot spot Lena did so love to nip and suck at.

"I miss you inside of me already. I can still feel you. I need your hands and lips on me."

The shaky inhale, her breath stuttering on a half choke, said as much about Alex's shaken self-control as the flutter of eyelids, her gaze completely unfocused.

"Ah, to be young and in love again," Eliza commented wryly to Reba where they were hanging out at the dining room table puttering over a card game. While she was no prude, she really didn't need to know any more about her eldest and her paramour. Reba chuckled and tapped their glasses together. 

"Seems like a lifetime ago, huh?"

"It does."

Again, her eye was drawn as Alex jumped a little, her embrace around Lena tightening.

"Looks like your might-as-well-be-daughter-in-law is a biter."

"Reba!"

The redhead just chortled dirtily.

"Jesus, watching those two is making me horny," Lucy mused conversationally and raised an eyebrow at Maggie's nervous jump.

"Trying not to," she muttered uncomfortably. "Don't want things to be weird."

Setting aside her drink, Lucy crawled imperiously into Maggie's lap, stroking the dark hair. "Who knew you were such a softy? Kiss me and forget about them."

"You're very persuasive, counselor."

Unaware and uncaring of the commentary, Lena was lost in the arousal haze of her love's skin and scent, the soft hair her fingers were buried in. Alex was hypnotized. She'd had no idea her lady would be such a minx once strung out and sexed up. She was a touchy-feely purring mass of blatant flirting and come ons, purposefully trying to get Alex riled up again.

It was working well. So, so well.

"I can't wait for you to fuck me into the bed. I'd like that. You'd like that."

That finally broke Alex's silence, her voice little more than a gasp. "God Lee…"

Only her death grip on her root beer and the rigid cast kept her from grabbing Lena and possibly embarrassing them both. Not that her brazen sex kitten seemed to mind. Though Susan's teasing sing-song voice did finally get Lena to leave off her tormenting.

"Hooooneymoon phase!"

Giving Thing Two a mock dirty look, Lena kissed her lady lingeringly before petting down the reddish hair she had once again made a mess of. "I'm fascinated with your hair."

"I noticed. I like it. It's a thing now."

"I love you."

"Love you too."

"I should go see how Tilly is doing. Before I embarrass us both."

That made Alex chuckle and dole out a hug. "Go on then. Come back for midnight and we'll embarrass ourselves a bit more."

With a kittenish grin, Lena forced herself to stand and silly dance over to where Bug and Kara were conspicuously avoiding the adult shenanigans by pouring over a sketchpad on the bed.

"There's my other favorite girls! What do you have there?"

"Me and Auntie Kara are talking about perspec'ive! Want to see?"

"Goodness yes. Here, let me get settled in by the pillows where the light is better and you can bring your papers over."

"'Kay!"

Kara patted them both and slipped away to stalk over to her sister, still sprawled back on the sofa where Lena had left her. "No one should be able to look that stupidly smitten goofy and yet still smug."

Tucking her bottle under the cast, Alex pressed her fingertips to her chest and struck a flawless 'who me' face that set the others laughing and almost cracked Kara's fierce expression. Though the slow, utterly filthy smile did it, Kara yelping and waving her arms around like a loon. 

"Oh eeew, Alex! Stop grinning like that! You guys are gross! I hope you showered."

Alex just climbed to her feet for a hug, pressing a kiss to Kara's cheek and blowing out a farting noise.

Lena watched the group laugh, soaked up the feeling of family that had sunk into her bones before once again giving her full attention to this new daughter of her thawed heart.

"An' Auntie found me some photos of the building to draw from an' said that maybe I could help with the designing 'cause so much work has to be done here? Though I don' know why. This buil'ing's the best."

Clearly exhausted, Tilly was fading, eyelids as droopy as her lazy words. Carefully setting aside the sketchpad bearing the beautiful drawings of the structure they inhabited, Lena curled her arm more closely around the little body and pet the wiry, fur-like hair.

"You smell like Mama." She murmured sleepily and then a little pucker of consternation appeared between the black brows. "I can't keep calling you both Mama, it's silly. I know Matilda called her bad mommy, well, Mommy, but we both know you're not bad, so maybe I can use that?"

And despite her own mixed feelings caught up in the only mother she remembered, Lena smiled softly at the little girl who had captured her heart every bit as effectively as the amazing woman who watched them with pure adoration even as she horsed around with her sister.

"That would be lovely, Sweetheart. Come hug me to seal the deal."

Tilly needed no further encouragement to do just that. And like with other loving embraces in her past, Lena's stomach growling irritably interrupted the sweet moment, making Matilda raise her head.

"Was that your tummy?"

Across the room, Alex cracked up.

Knowing that Lena was wiped out and distracted, Eliza excused herself from the game to meet the pair at the little kitchen.

"Gramma, Mommy is hungry. Did Auntie Kara leave anything?"

The pack of friends laughed at that one while Lena just smiled sappily at her kid. Taking the new title in stride, Eliza smiled at the child and gestured at the refrigerator. "Let's check for her, shall we?"

"Okay!"

Revitalized with a task, she was happy to be busy poking through all the plentiful food that still amazed her in its variety. With dexterous little hands at a task, Eliza stepped to the side to be closer to where Lena had sat on one of the barstools at the kitchen island, her eyes on where the sisters were goofing off. 

"Seeing them get so wound up around one another is hilarious and sweet," Lena commented with an adoring smile on her face. "Their chaos is endlessly fascinating."

"If not a bit stressful, right?"

Eliza's gentle tease made Lena flush a bit, but her smile deepened. "I would want it any other way."

"I love them both, but sometimes they're like barely domesticated wild dogs."

Lena's belly laugh over that comment caught the attention of Alex and Kara both.

Even if Eliza had still been leery of Lena, watching how she accepted being affectionately dogpiled would have made her love the girl, as she merely patted them, smoothing over their differently shaded hair. 

"Mongrels, goodness, just settle for a minute. That's my good girls."

And with great sighs, the sisters relaxed, pressed into Lena's torso, their foreheads touching over her heart. For someone who seemed baffled at the very idea that she could be nurturing, the emotionally scarred Lena was very good at it.

"Tilly, honey, how much leftovers did you find?"

"Lots!"

"Good. Pull it all out, because I'm willing to bet these two are hungry too."

"Auntie Kara's always hungry," Tilly sassed with a smile and started ferrying food containers over the island to be poked over.

"It's true," Kara mock-sighed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena had kept her face turned away during their exchange, sure her protective, possessive glare was in full force. When Alex relaxed, so did she, relieved for her love. Still, she took the focus away to give Alex a little emotional breathing room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The emotional twists and turns in this part feel really good to me. Like in real life, New Years is often a time of reflection and this group can be surprisingly sensitive when they're not being sass monsters!
> 
> Also? I do get a kick out of dropping zingers with Eliza. Trust me, you can't miss it. I think I might be channeling my own mother sometimes, the sassy thing! -chuckle-

With sated bellies, the mess was easily cleaned up and everyone gravitated back to the couches. With the TV showing just under fifteen minutes before the ball dropped on Times Square, the group was feeling reflective. 

"Hard to believe that a year ago, I had barely met Kyra," Susan said and looked adoringly at her sleeping fiancé, sprawled out in the recliner with her, before shifting her gaze up to where Reba had taken Kyra's usual perch. "I hadn't met you at all."

Grinning adoringly at her almost daughter-in-law, Reba leaned over to kiss her forehead warmly. "And I'm so glad you did, Susan. You are a joy to us." With a mischievous glance at Lucy, Reba added in, "what about you, hellion?"

Caught off guard, Lucy came back from where she'd been staring pensively off into space while Maggie had been talking quietly with Kara. "Huh? What?"

"Something you're thankful for about this year? Maybe something you'd like for this next one?"

"Uh sure. Umm, I'm thankful for four more years of President Marsden."

There was a great upwelling of agreement from the gathering for that one.

"And for reconnecting with all of you. I really missed you guys."

"We missed you too, Luce," Alex reassured her.

"And meeting this troublemaker," Lucy added in, dropping a kiss on Maggie's grin. But it was clear that there was more on her busy mind. "After the shit that happened with my dad, I… I think maybe I'm ready to reach out to my sister. No matter all the resentments and bullshit, she's still my family. Whaddya think, Danvers duo? Think you could handle two famous bitches in your life?"

"Three, if you count Cat," Kara added and there was a round of laughs. "Oh, the chaos of Lois and Cat in any sort of proximity is both intriguing and terrifying."

"Yeah, well so is a nuclear meltdown," Alex sassed. "We got your back, no matter what, Lucy. Don't you worry about that."

Nodding, Lucy let out a great shuddering breath and nestled down into Maggie, hiding her face in the fall of dark hair. 

"Do I have to chose between you and Tilly?" Alex asked petulantly into the quiet that fell and the chuckles were gentle as her pitiful flirting earned her sweet kisses from her lover. Tilly had passed out cradled by her mother's combined warmth, her body a little curl in the middle of their new but solid dynamic.

"I doubt you could," Susan teased and winced at the way Alex blinked at her, expression vulnerable. "Sorry, Alex, I forget how new you are to all of this. You're always so self-assured and steady, it's too easy to forget you have your merits and flaws just like everyone else."

Alex looked a little overwhelmed, her smile tremulous. "Thanks, Susan, that means a lot."

"Hey, we're all queer family here. And the straight but not narrow."

Chuckling, Reba stroked Susan's hair again. "Yup. Still hopelessly heterosexual. Bummer."

That woke Kyra with a yawn while the others laughed. "Ugh, overshare, Mom."

While Kyra wandered off, Lucy deflected attention away from herself by teasing Alex. "What about you, big sister Danvers? You decide where you're gonna fall on the sexuality spectrum?"

Alex shrugged, faintly uncomfortable, but trusting her friends and family. "Lesbian is good I guess, what else is there?"

The riot of scoffing she earned with that surprised her and Kara both, though it was Eliza that spoke up. "I feel like I failed you girls in so many ways with matters of sexuality." She smiled sadly at her eldest and smoothed a hand over Kara's hair. "That maybe there had been things I needed to press on you, guide you past the false truth of the white-- and, yes, hopelessly heterosexual-- media hammers home."

It was a sobering reminder of an ugly reality. 

"I was a legitimate distraction," Kara said, her expression melancholic and she closed her eyes when Eliza leaned over to kiss her gently on the forehead.

"A welcome one, Sweetie, but I suppose there's some truth to that."

"Better late than never," Lena added and smiled warmly at her bestie. "And no rush, you. Sexuality is complicated. Far more than too many want to admit to."

"She's right," Kyra piped up, returning to the group. "These loons spend so much time teasing you, admittedly because they adore you, that they miss the obvious sometimes. I took a couple Human Sexuality courses in college and let me tell you, they should be mandatory for one hundred percent of the population." Feeling a little sheepish at the chiding, Susan and the vodka aunts kept their mouths shut and Kyra was clearly pleased, smooching her lady and plunking herself down by her knees to focus on Alex. "So, you didn't get hooked into yourself until late, right? Never really got girls were your jam, but you needed an emotional attachment to really feel it."

Awkwardly shooting Maggie a look from the corner of her eye, Alex nodded slowly and seemed taken aback when Kyra grinned warmly.

"You're in luck. There's a word for that, a good, solid healthy identity. Hang on."

Tapping rapidly at her phone, Kyra made a triumphant noise and handed it over. While Alex read, Kyra built on the subject with the no-nonsense energy that made Susan all heart-eyes.

"Me? I like pansexual. It's warmly inclusive and encompasses pretty much anyone as a potential interest. I'm really not big on the packaging." Twisting athletically to resume her sprawl, she kissed Susan warmly, stroking her cheek. "I'm into the individual and what they're made of."

"Oh," Alex said with that air of someone who had gotten a revelation and Kyra's smile warmed even more.

"Yeah, sister, I know how you feel. We as people might fight labels, say we hate them, but sometimes giving something a name makes it real."

Gently, Lena tugged Alex's chin around, kissing her gently. "What is it?"

"Um. Demisexual. Needs an emotional attachment to get, y'know, turned on."

It would have been easy to tease her, but the group remained studiously quiet while Lena pet back Alex's hair and smiled at her adoringly. "That does sound like you, yes. Lucky me. Certainly something to think about, hmm?"

Nodding, Alex was happy to snuggle into her girlfriend, eyes closed while her furrowed brow gave away her busy thoughts.

"And Kara?" Kyra spoke up gently. "You don't have to live up to anyone's expectations, especially to fit in. Don't want to be sexual at all? No damn problem. Want to maybe pursue something with your cute party planner? Fantastic! Just want to her friend? She'd like that too. Want to change your mind at some point? Go for it."

Kara looked sort of shell-shocked and very pink in embarrassment, but hung on the words.

"The only thing you have to do in any relationship is be honest. Otherwise, you're guaranteed to screw it up. Just do your best, right? Key to bein' Human."

Something in the way she said the parting shot made everyone in the room except her mother wonder if she didn't know more than she was letting on. As was her wont, Alex used herself to deflect away from her sister.

"It makes sense. The, uh, demisexual thing. It wasn't only my being closeted that kept me uninterested in my… partners, but that I couldn't make any sort of romantic connection and it kept me divorced from my own sexuality."

While her voice was oddly businesslike, the way she stared intently at the lock of Lena's hair she anxiously fiddled with gave away that she was anything but unaffected. 

"So all that party girl… stuff never meant anything more than what was expected of me."

Lena coaxed her chin up, kissing her gently between those puckered brows. "You just needed the connection, baby. You were never broken. In that, me and Maggie are totally on the same page."

Maggie knew she had to step up and be vulnerable for her pal, taking a deep breath and pushing past her own emotional armor. 

"Seriously, Alex, it really is okay that you figured out all this a bit late. You're only in your late twenties. Basically a baby."

Soulful brown eyes peered out from under Lena's chin, vulnerable and a bit wounded. "But I feel like I wasted so much time."

"Hey, I get that but everything happens in its own time. Besides you landed yourself such a dream girl and fast tracked yourself into domestic bliss."

Alex made that uncomfortable mouth twist and said quietly, "yeah, casual really isn't my style."

Maggie cleared her throat, suddenly finding the top of a conspicuously quiet Lucy's head completely fascinating. "Yeah, still really sorry about being a dick about that. It was a shitty move and you were a friend first, before anything else." Clearing her throat uncomfortably, she made herself look Alex in the eye. "You're an all in type of girl Danvers. It's just who you are. Lena's right, you were never broken." 

Lena had kept her face turned away during their exchange, sure her protective, possessive glare was in full force. When Alex relaxed, so did she, relieved for her love. Still, she took the focus away to give Alex a little emotional breathing room.

"I'm fine with bisexual because I've never wandered outside of it, even in my wildish school days. And I'm hooked now, so it seems a moot point. To change the self-definition, specifically. I'm certainly not going to change my own self-identity just because so many people are so stupid about bisexuals."

"Hear, hear," Lucy crowed and gestured grandly at her pal. "Behold the domesticated and leashed bisexual, no longer a creature of the sexual wilderness!"

"Careful, sister," Lena teased, "you're halfway to getting collared yourself."

Lucy's gasp of cartoonish outrage earned a welcome roll of amusement through the group.

Susan chuckled and flashed a grin at Maggie. "Looks like you and me get to be the butch stereotypes, Sawyer."

Grinning back, the cop raised her bottle in a quick toast. "I'm okay with that. Sometimes, the stereotypes stick for good, not bad reasons. I never so much as had a tickle of curiosity about boys. Some do, some don't. S'all good."

"Yeah, same here."

"What about you, Mom Danvers?" Lucy dropped into the lull, her mouth tipped up wickedly.

"What? I never bragged up my affair with Cat Grant in college?"

The stunned silence that fell was broken up with Eliza's belly laugh of pure delight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, much of the sexuality conversation here was part of a longer scene that has been broken up over the course of this series. Canon Alex still has the personality of a demisexual to me, including adding to her panic over her one night stand with Sara Lance. A stranger showed her empathy and that was enough to hook in her feelings at least temporarily, and it took her a bit to sort everything out in her head.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once at her window, Alex opened it from the outside and the trio drifted in and landed light as a leaf. But no one wanted to release the hug just yet. Long, peaceful moments ticked by in their little quietude while the city was a dull noise through the open window. Then Kara squeezed her loved ones just tight enough to make them gasp and giggle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! After a long hiatus working on the 13 Aus of Christmas, I return to my beloved Pyramid crew! I was sitting here at 2ish AM on New Year's Day and thought to myself, "hey you, don't you have a New Year's piece languishing?" So I knuckled down and finished this chapter.
> 
> I've missed these muses and all of you. Here's to a new year of fun and fic! Cheers!

No one was going to beat Eliza's epic trolling anyway, so the conversation was basically over even before the sudden racket of booming fireworks and the chattering of gunfire made them all jump a bit. Matilda nearly leapt straight up, her tail fluffed up in alarm. Instantly, her moms calmed her with gentle touches.

"It's okay, Bug, that's just fireworks."

"Oh, Auntie Kara warned me that they'd be loud, but they're really loud!"

"And what is it with NCers and guns?" Lucy added sarcastically.

While everyone but Maggie and Lucy gravitated to the huge windows to ogle the spectacle being put on by the nearby Staples Center, Kara grabbed the pair of construction earmuffs she'd found for her niece. Much happier with the muffled sound, Tilly snuggled into Lena's embrace and ignored her moms kissing lingeringly. Though she giggled readily enough when they kissed all over her head.

After many minutes of colorful explosions, the finale of the show was a barrage of color that carried for miles in all directions.

"An excellent end the festivities," Eliza said where she'd been standing with her arm around Kara and kissing her temple. "If I didn't say it, I'm thankful for my girls and all these new parts of family that they've built, particularly you two, Lena and Matilda. Happy New Year."

As overwhelmed as ever, the pair of emotionally scarred survivors soaked up the love in the room, the lifelines these new loved ones had woven into strong bridges to help them heal and grow.

"Love you both," Lena said thickly to her girls as they all huddled into a hug. "So, so much."

"Love you too, Mommy."

The title felt better than Lena ever thought it could.

"Well, I'm wiped out bein' up this late," Reba yawned around a stretch. "I'm ready to put in earplugs and hit the sack." She flashed a pointed look at the two couples who inhabited the other apartment along with herself and Eliza. "Give your moms a last kiss, Matilda, and let's get you ready for bed."

"You'll come back in the morning?" Tilly asked her moms, gold eyes tired and needy. They squashed her in another big hug that lingered.

"Of course we will, love," Lena murmured and Alex added in her own vow.

"We promise."

Satisfied, Tilly squirmed to be let down and dragged her sleepy little self over to take Reba's offered hand to be led off to bed.

"I'll bring your cats to you," Kara called after her.

After staring moonily after the adopted daughter who had stolen her heart, Lena sighed and leaned into her sleepy lover.

"Shame the twins aren't here. I was going to officially offer them a job as bodyguards if they wanted it. I have my tailor working on MIB suits for them and everything!"

Of course, Lucy was never one to pass up a good opportunity to sass. "What, you got a bodyguard fantasy?"

"Well sure! Who doesn't love a good bodyguard fantasy?"

Alex flushed at the little slap on her ass and Lucy chuckled. "While I agree with you on principle, I'm going to put it into practice. Because if Hot Cop has any energy left, I have plans for her."

Choking again on her beer, Maggie glowered and coughed suds out of her lungs. "Fucker," she finally gasped and Lucy just grinned cheekily and brought over her crutches.

"Hoping to. Night everyone! Happy New Year!"

Maggie echoed the sentiment and was gently led away, Lucy feisty but so gentle with her.

"I don't know how they make that work," Alex marveled and Lena finished the thought.

"But they make it work. Kara, come here."

The three young women huddled in a big hug, Eliza briefly joining them long enough to kiss each of their heads.

"Happy New Year, girls. Love you."

And then it was just the three of them and the soul core they made. Lena clung to the sisters, breathing them in. "I have no words for how impossibly grateful I am for both of you. You gave me a heart and a home when I felt so worthless I thought I would die from it. That strength is something I will always, always be grateful for. Love you both."

They returned the gentle sentiment and kissed her cheeks, damp with a few happy tears. 

After a few long moments in the loving huddle, Kara took a deep breath and raised her head up. "Okay, before you two get all sex-fiend-y, I'm flying you home. Get your coats and I'll be back in a sec."

Amused, the couple did as ordered, and were ready to be scooped up into Supergirl's strong arms, feet dangling over the city below. Lena wasn't sure when she had stopped being so afraid of flying, but with these two with her, she felt like she could do anything.

"Ugh, I love you two, but eew!" Kara complained as Lena and Alex kissed just under her chin. "I'm either going to need to figure out how to get over being embarrassed by you two or how to differentiate between 'sex' and 'danger'."

They laughed the rest of the way to Alex's apartment.

Once at her window, Alex opened it from the outside and the trio drifted in and landed light as a leaf. But no one wanted to release the hug just yet. Long, peaceful moments ticked by in their little quietude while the city was a dull noise through the open window. Then Kara squeezed her loved ones just tight enough to make them gasp and giggle.

"Bless you two loved up idiots."

Laughing, Lena and Alex hugged her back as hard as they could. Kara loved it, for all that she was near-invulnerable, she felt their touches and relished the emotions behind the gestures. With that in mind, she leaned her head into her sister's.

"And you, amazing person, now you've given a home to two different people who never knew how much they would need you." A quirk of adoring grin turned up the corners of Kara's serious mouth. "Y'know, until after the fact."

"Three," Lena added. "Because you also gave Bug a home."

"Oh my gosh! How could I forget my cute niece!" 

Kara's being scandalized at herself for forgetting had Alex laughing in delight. "My pleasure. To all three of you. You're my family now, my heart and home. Now, Supergirl, you seem a little antsy and there's a wound up city out there who would love to see you in their skies."

"Now you're just trying to get rid of me," Kara teased and Alex kissed the little scar between her brows.

"Only lovingly. Go get 'em, superhero. Love you."

Kara hugged them a last time, Lena adding in, "Happy New Year, bestie."

"I love you guys!" Kara called out as she launched herself away to vanish into the dim urban night. By some unspoken agreement, the couple cuddled there at the open window for a long moment.

"Y'know, part of me is going to miss this apartment, this window," Alex mused and Lena tilted her head back to study that lovely profile. "But I'm looking forward to living with you and Bug full time too. It's scary, but I think we're gonna be great at it."

"I want to make sure that we find a place in my condo that is just yours, Al. That seems important for the sake of everyone's sanity. I'm not sure how we'll make that work since I'm assuming Tilly will take the den? I suppose we could seal up that little side room by the kitchen that I love."

"You'd give up your comfy little nook? It must be love."

The gentle tease earned the smile Alex was after. 

"You're worth it. And Lucy already wants to steal that couch."

Laughing, Alex closed the window and swept her love into a lazy sway of a dance. "Lucy already gets away with too much."

Hand cupped around the shoulder of that wounded arm, the other playing with the fine, soft hair at Alex's temple, Lena was once again caught up in the blissful rush of feeling.

"You brought me humor and softness and strength and… and love. Sometimes it all still feels so foreign, but you are so impossibly giving that what else can I do, but step up to the challenge?"

The look of shy delight from Lena's quiet words was a rush of its own and she kissed away anything Alex might have said in that moment. When she continued, her voice was soft and weighty.

"It wasn't your good looks, or the way you can make me feel so good, or how smart and sensitive and utterly amazing you are, Alex, it was all of it, the whole package that makes you unique. That's what I fell in love with. You."

"Oh Lee," Alex breathed and held her close. "You turned out to be exactly what I needed; a partner in the struggle, someone to protect and be protected in return, a confidant not attached to the rest of my baggage. You were, are, a breath of fresh air that helps me breathe even in the darkest times. And… you just make me happy." 

"Me too. Happy New Year, my love."

Lost in one another, they lazily danced their way to the bedroom before reluctantly breaking apart to scrub away the magnificent day and strip to their skins. Lena didn't miss how Alex was moving slowly, clearly worn out and maybe hurting.

"What's wrong, baby?"

Scowling like a petulant toddler, Alex flopped back into the embrace of her lush bed and gently laid the mauled hand on a pillow. "Oh, this stupid arm really hurts and it's annoying."

Leering playfully, Lena straddled her hips and drank in how the brown eyes roved over her. Not to mention the caress of that one hand over her hip and belly.

"Did we overdo it?"

"Worth it," Alex said easily and slid her hand around to the small of Lena's back to tug her into cuddling. "But yeah, I'll need to hit the DEO or a doctor up tomorrow."

"You got it. We'll collect," Lena voice tapered off for a moment and she continued on wonderingly, "our daughter-- god that feels amazing to say-- and take care of that first thing."

"Thanks babe, you're amazing. I love you."

The sleepy mumble was soft sweetness and Lena traced the shape of Alex's mouth as she drifted away. Achingly vulnerable and yet feeling stronger than she ever had, Lena snuggled into her lover and pulled the warm bedding over them. 

"I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up next- The new year doesn't begin the way anyone wanted...
> 
> Stay tuned!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara had lost a world, a family, a culture, an identity. And there was no doubt in her at all that Alex could survive worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, for a change of pace. Buckle up, we're in for a bumpy ride.

Half suffocated beneath Alex's over-warm bulk, Lena woke hungry, happily sore, and needing to pee and make coffee. Still sleepy deadweight, Alex barely grumbled as Lena wiggled away, pausing to drop a kiss on the sleep-matted red hair. Taking care of bodily functions and straightening up her hair into a loose ponytail, she climbed into a warm bathrobe and wandered out to start up the morning caffeine. 

While that brewed, she idly looked around for their phones, figuring that they were in for more text messages, particularly if Lucy was feeling gloaty about hopefully getting laid. Lena found her purse and was just marveling at the twenty-four messages and ten missed phonecalls when Kara's favorite window rattled and was nearly ripped clean from the building.

"Where is she?" Kara almost yelled, her expression as frantic as her voice. Alarmed, Lena didn't even hesitate.

"She's still sleeping, though she must be awake now."

But Kara made no reply, gone in a blur that left the bedroom door looking a little cockeyed.

"I've got her, doc. Hey sis, bet you're not feeling too great. Yes, her temperature's elevated and-- dammit, Alex! You and your out of mind out of sight approach," Kara muttered, eyes anxious as she gently bundled her sister up in the bedding. "How did you manage to ignore how this hand must not feel right? You idiot. Doc, get the van in motion, I'll meet them. I know the cold air won't help any! But time is more crucial here. Will you contact the hospital? Good. I'm out of here."

The whole one-sided conversation was alarming to say the least and Lena was an unmovable wall in the doorway. "Kara, what the hell is going on?"

Scooping up the Alex-bundle, Kara clearly wanted to barrel through her, but forced herself to pause. "It's the hand. I didn't let the doc tell me much before racing over her, but it's bad. Her scans from a week ago got lost in the shuffle because of a newbie technician the Mutates had scared half to death."

"Oh god," Lena whispered, the horror of the situation sinking in past the warm cocoon of the last few days. Alex's arm had been bothering her… for days. "Let me get dressed, it'll just take a second!"

"No, Lena. Lena!"

The shout stopped the frantic grabbing at clothes, Lena's eyes huge in her panicked face. It tore at Kara's heart to say it, but it had to be said.

"Lena, I've got her. You need to go to Matilda now. She'll need you."

Oh how Lena wanted to scream at her. How could she decide between them? Alex, little more than an unresponsive lump in the bedding, a spill of her reddish hair peeking out the only thing that identified her. Or poor little Tilly, so strong, but so fragile at the same time. Nauseous and shell-shocked, Lena nodded and stepped aside to let Kara rush out with her precious burden.

"I've got her," Kara called out, her ear mic picking up the words and J'onn relaying back to her.

"Good. The van is on Highway 10 headed west. I'm patching you into them now. I'll meet you there."

"Copy. Van team? I can't imagine you're going to be too hard to find, but help me zero in and maintain your speed."

"Copy that. Freeway's pretty open and we're in lane three and holding."

"K'ra?" Alex slurred softly. "Why's it so cold?"

"Just for another minute, sis, then we'll get you warmed up."

The grids and swirls of buildings and streets and urban green were sliced by the massive ribbon of freeway and the vehicles speeding along its concrete surface. Calling up her x-ray vision, Kara zeroed in on a nondescript black van that sure enough, was kitted out as a field medic unit within.

"Okay, van team, lock down anything loose and open the back doors. I'm bringing her to you."

If there was anything to be said of the agents of the Department of Extranormal Operations, they were generally unfazed by weird. With precision learned over time, Kara matched speeds and drifted into the van box as lightly as if the thing were standing still. 

"Strap her down and hold on. I can get you there faster."

Even over the roar of the wind, Kara was pretty sure she heard the driver gulp.

J'onn arrived then, banging the doors shut and gesturing for Kara to take the front end. With a jolt and a shudder, the van was airborne, bouncing around a bit as Kara shouldered her way beneath it to grab the axle and pour the speed on. 

They were all grateful the theatrics had caused no impacts amid the startled as hell drivers on the freeway. With Sol-powered speed just at the edge of dangerous to her Human cargo, Kara raced the van the eight miles to the UCNC Medical Center and carefully slowed up just above the ambulance bay. A snarky male voice saying, "so where's this VIP emergency anyway?" turned into a chorus of gasps as Supergirl and van landed with a squeak of tires.

\----

There was no recollection of tapping at her phone for her driver's service, but Lena found herself climbing into the car of a driver she recognized and being quietly ferried back to the old Hudson building.

Some dispassionate part of her brain realized that she was in some state of shock, everything feeling very disjointed to her senses. The rest of her was trapped between abject panic and frozen in horror.

Something had gone terribly wrong with that brutalized hand. With past years of biotech work stored in her head, Lena could imagine too many horrible scenarios, playing them out behind her eyes until she trembled all over.

The look on Tilly's face when she raced out to see Lena, the way her beautiful little smile crashed, it tore at Lena's heart.

"What's wrong?"

"The DEO called," Lena somehow managed to rasp out past the burn in her throat that matched her eyes. "Something's gone wrong with your mama's hand…"

\----

Hours passed.

Kara sat in the waiting room, having long since changed back to her mild, blend-in self once more. Eliza had arrived nearly on her heels, expression set and worried. In that moment, Kara was so reminded of that same expression on Alex's face so many, many times, that she couldn't stop the tears.

Anatomy wasn't her strong point, but she was more than intelligent enough to grasp the basics of the emergency. Fluid buildup in the hand had caused extensive tissue damage and death, the problem all the worse for the rigid encasement of the cast, the shattered bones and crushed flesh and rendered nerves. Infection seemed almost anticlimactic after that.

Listening to the surgeon talk about flaying open that hand like a piece of meat horrified Kara and she felt the way her adopted mother trembled beneath her encircling arm. The prognosis wasn't good, the damage grown so much more extensive in the two weeks since the Cadmus raid, but her life wasn't in immediate danger

"I can't believe she didn't feel any of this, even with the nerve damage…"

"She's tough," Eliza whispered. "And so stubborn and strong. She'd carry the weight of the world if she could."

Kara had lost a world, a family, a culture, an identity. And there was no doubt in her at all that Alex could survive worse.

"My hero," she murmured and she and Eliza hugged for a long time until the comm in Kara's ear called her away for an emergency. For a moment she hated the mantle she had brought on herself when she emblazoned her Kryptonian crest across her chest as it once again took her from her family. But Alex would be the first one to give her a hug and a kick in the ass to get to it.

Besides, hitting something sounded really appealing right then.

\----

The clan rallied to Lena and Bug like iron to a magnet. Still shocked by the phenomenon of all these people having her back, Lena was so grateful for all of them. Maggie half cajoled and half stared Tilly down to eat a little something and drink a glass of juice she held tightly with both hands and stared at like it held all the secrets of the universe. She even let herself be coaxed away from clinging to Lena so that she could stand up and shake out the stiffness, use the bathroom, and get bullied into eating and drinking a little something as well. It turned out Reba's 'mom face' was every bit as effective as Eliza's.

When J'onn knocked and was let in, he was impressed at the ringing silence he was greeted with. Not that the room was anything but silent to his telepathy. It was a wall of stress and terror and babbling thoughts.

"So, even hopped up on painkillers and recovering from anesthesia, Alex still finds a way to both impress and annoy me," he said with all the exasperated adoration of a father of his stubborn, loveable daughter. "Lena, if I might borrow you? Apparently, Alex is refusing to speak to anyone and the doctors aren't certain how to get her to communicate with them about how she's feeling."

Lena only stared, not reacting until he walked up on her, body language open and gentle so as not to scare her. A gentle hand on her elbow still made her jump.

"The presence of loved ones will reassure her."

The longing radiating off of her drown out everything else in the room, but her eye strayed to where Tilly huddled under Maggie's encircling arm, looking every bit as traumatized as the day they rescued her. Everyone startled when Maggie spoke loudly and decisively into the silence.

"I'm going, J'onn. Glare all you want. Besides, my badge is less intimidating than yours and in a great many respects, carries more weight. Local and all that crap. And no one will question me bringing the kid in."

That finally got Matilda's attention, her body language easing a bit as she sat up and twisted to look Maggie in the face. The woman kept her eyes on J'onn for a moment longer, teasing him.

"You DEO punks owe me for all my crime scenes you've butt into." The cheerful sass clearly eased some of Tilly and Lena's stress, so J'onn let the small detective win this round. Then she looked Matilda in the eye, her expression kind, but completely serious. "But first, rules. Okay kid, I'm going to take you to see your mama, but you cannot leave my side, got it? You have to be quiet and calm for her sake because she's going to be disoriented and hurting every bit as much as the last time she was in a hospital. If you can't handle that, your Grampa J'onn there will get you out of there. Deal?"

For a moment, Bug squirmed, weighing everything in her head before she nodded. "Deal."

"Okay then, sidekick, grab my crutches and let's do this."


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where she had stood up beside them, Kara placed a gentle hand over Alex's left where it lay on Lena's shoulder in silent support.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, the irony of Maggie being so good with the kid… I'd always figured her to be good with traumatized kids. Maybe too many years of cop shows, I have no idea. But I will agree with canon that she has NO desire for her own, though she will make a terrific Fun Auntie.
> 
> So, was going to be way more angsty, but ages ago I had the most hilarious convo with illogical (shocking, I know) and couldn't resist using it. There will still be plenty of angst, but I built a better emotional platform for recovery. Alex and her loved ones deserve that.

Even Lena couldn't get Alex to talk. It was the most hilarious damnest thing to watch her scowl stubbornly and just keep repeating 'no'. In Russian. Even J'onn could only pick up fragments of thoughts as they flash-fired brokenly through Alex's mind, which was about as coherent as a blender on 'frappe'. 

"Sorry I'm late, how is she doing?"

Kara finally returned, breathless and concerned, and for all her 'I'm a secret agent and will speak none' routine that Alex had fallen back to, she instantly became a leaky verbal faucet. Only… no one in the room could understand a word of it. Except, apparently, for Kara.

"Hey, hey, sis, slow down. Right, okay, I get that. No, I'm afraid the elephant on your arm has to stay put for now. Give it time, maybe you'll get to like him. No, really, he's not green, that's just the wallpaper."

The hovering doctors were baffled at the ordinary-seeming blonde who leaned over their patient, stroking her hair back and soaking up every blearily babbled word.

"Alex, you were fifteen when that happened. There's no way Mom is still going to be mad about it. Yes, of course I'll ask. I'll even take the blame. No, I'm pretty sure you aced calculus. It was typing you hated. Really, the sound of the keys is what bothered you? Huh, here I thought it was just me."

It was the sweetest thing to see the way Alex stared with absolute trust and devotion to her hovering sister, the only anchor she trusted as her grasp of reality was twisted out of her control. Lena was anything but offended by not being what Alex needed in this moment because Alex had needed a deeper, older touchstone to latch onto.

"Yes, really, that's Mom, you're not imagining it. Of course she's here, silly, she loves you. Hey, shh, relax. I'm here. No one is going to hurt you anymore, just focus on me. That's it."

The brown eyes had started to roll around in a panic, but Alex let Kara brush them closed, kiss her forehead, stay closely leaned over her.

"She's got a sensation of weight on her elbow and she's hurting, but I think she's managing okay," Kara added in exactly that same patient, loving tone and it took the room a moment to realize she was addressing them in general. "This is just like when she got her wisdom teeth out all those years ago. Yeah, I know, Eliza, she told you she was fine, but you know how this stubborn dummy is. I didn't mind, it was one of the first times we really connected, you know? I'll stay here to monitor her sanity for a bit if no one minds?"

There was a thread of steel in her voice that kept away any possible objections. Reassured for the moment, the medical staff left and Kara could flash a sad grin at the rest of her family and friends. 

"Her retention of Kryptonese is remarkable when she's stoned out of her mind. And ironically, makes more sense too. Oh good, now she's switched to really a really slurred dialect of Chinese. Mandarin, I believe." 

Lena felt like she should add to the completely one-sided running conversation. "I didn't even know she spoke Mandarin."

"Neither did I."

Weakly, Alex had managed to get her left arm to respond, sloppily hooking it around Kara's shoulder like an anchor. The babbling had barely let up for breath, and even without knowing a word of it, the audience could tell most of it was gibberish. It was a rushed, half-panicked avalanche of words, like she couldn't get them out fast enough. Slow tears ran down her temples into her hair. Kara just remained calm and focused while her sister rode it out.

"Hey, slow down. You'll give yourself the hiccups. That was Russian again. Stop mixing languages Alex. See, the Russian I knew about, because we learned it when we had aspirations of fencing diamonds. I never could get the heat and pressure just right."

The laughing sob that escaped Eliza was a whole conversation in itself.

Maggie couldn't resist getting most of the bittersweet hilarity on her phone, the whole thing too fascinating to pass up. Kara's little huff of amusement was the prelude to translating more of the incoherent mess as best she could. "Maggie put it away. She just said she was going to immolate you."

"With that weak-ass glare? Pfft!"

"Also can someone take down this list for me, she wants Korean food when we get out of here. How you want to murder Maggie sounds a whole lot worse when you say it in Russian."

"Everything sounds more dramatic in Russian," Maggie chimed in cheerfully.

"No you can't hire someone named Ivan to bump her off. Nope not Sungjae either. Are you just making up names for assassins? Or do you actually know some of these people? No, I don't care if Sergei would do it for free. We don't plot the assassinations of our friends, Alex." A wry twist of amusement to Kara's mouth telegraphed her reaction as much as the tone of her voice. "Yeah you would use your friends' diplomatic immunity to your advantage."

"Stoner, murdery asshole, Korean-food-craving Alex is awesome," Maggie chuckled and her upbeat attitude once more translated to Tilly, who remained clamped to her torso like a leech.

Shaking her head at their friend's antics, Kara pet back the tangled reddish hair. "Are you feeling better now? Good. Hey, there's someone here that I want you to meet all over again." Hesitantly, Lena obeyed Kara's 'come here' gesture and sank down into a chair beside the hospital bed, anchored there by her friend's free arm. "You remember Lena. She's your girlfriend and you can tell her anything." 

Slowly, Alex lolled her head to the side, hazy brown eyes just barely focusing, brows furrowed. Lena could almost feel the shifting of the drunken anchoring of Alex's attention and was completely floored by the show of trust. The flow of words was slowing now as she stared with unabashed fascination at the green-eyed beauty and suddenly burst into a wide, goofy grin. Whatever her happily sighed comment was, it made Kara stifle down real amusement.

"Who's the pretty lady? No, she's not married. Yes, the kid is adorable. Yes, a tail would be awesome, right? No, no, Maggie helped you with that. Yes, Maggie. And she seems to have fallen into Lucy's evil clutches. Right? I totally agree, it does serve her right." The warble of stifled hilarity in Kara's voice had everyone in the room trying not to laugh. "Yes, the pretty lady with the green eyes. Striking, isn't she? Well I'd hope so, she's your girlfriend."

There was no mistaking the disbelieving scoff, be it Mandarin, Russian or Kryptonese. 

"Yes, she really is your girlfriend. Do you want to say hi?"

Not wanting to startle, Lena gently touched Alex's arm, ran her hand along the length of it to cover the free hand curled around Kara's shoulder. "Oh, my sweet Tiger. Hi."

There was another doubtful comment then and Kara chuckled again. "Of course she doesn't think you're a real tiger, you weirdo. It's her cutesy nickname for you."

Something clicked in Alex's head then, Lena saw the change in her expression, a level of clarity to the drug-addled eyes.

"Lena. My Lee."

Choking down a relieved sob, Lena pressed in then, kissing over a eyebrow and soaking up the living warmth of her love. "Yes, yes. Your Lee. God… Alex…"

"You called me Alex. You hardly ever do that."

"No, my love, I don't. Only when I really want to lend the moment weight."

Shifting her left arm to fall to Lena's shoulder in a sloppy hug, Alex nosed against the dark hair. "I know. I remember every time. Not right this second, but they're all stored up somewhere in my head."

"I love you. I love you so much," Lena choked out quietly around her tears. "The way I felt when Kara crashed into your apartment and hauled you out of there in a panic." Breathing deeply, Lena wrestled her emotions down a bit and raised her head to hold the brown eyes in a sober gaze.

"Not good news, huh?" Alex asked softly and tried to stop her traitorous eyes from wandering over the medical bondage her broken hand was currently swathed in. There was no visual indicators in the fabric bulk, but the throbbing waves of ache up her arm, no matter how deadened down by the drugs, didn't lie.

"No," Lena whispered, watching those restless, frightened eyes. "Not good news."

Where she had stood up beside them, Kara placed a gentle hand over Alex's left where it lay on Lena's shoulder in silent support.

"There was some tissue death from compartment syndrome. The swelling must have returned so gradually that you didn't notice through the nerve damage."

Alex nodded, filing the information away with the medical knowledge still spotty in her memories at the moment. "And?"

Lena took a deep breath. "And… there is infection in flesh and bone both. With no sign of any real healing, even after two weeks."

The room was as silent as the grave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Creation notes!
> 
> Shatterpath: -dies laughing- just baffled that the pretty lady is hers. Total confused and eager puppy. CLASSIC  
> theillogicalthinker: And Alex starts talking but still in kryptonian. Still a spluttering gay mess. Her breath hitches when Lena kisses her cheek.  
> Shatterpath: Turns into a weepy mess. it would be sweet
> 
> theillogicalthinker: After plotting the murder of everyone else in the room, yes. Absolutely go cute.  
> But I also love the hilarity of no one else in the room knowing what the sisters are talking about and only getting one side of the conversation. So no one knows if they should be taking Kara for her word about everything.  
> Shatterpath: hahahahahaha! Later, Alex is completely disbelieving and then horrified by the video.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fighting down tears, Alex rubbed hard at her forehead, trying to shake away the cobwebs and letting the fresh hurt ground her. The waves of pain building up her arm were a deeper, darker pain that spoke of far more dreadful things than a bruise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, muttering about angsty hand surgery, "Metacarpals, right? It's metacarpals?"   
> Ariestess, who's desk is just a few away, comes back with, "no, it's carpe diem." Which would have been funny anyway, but we were listening to the Phineas and Ferb song of that same name.   
> -Morning of 9-21-17 during the huge reboot of the hand dramas.
> 
> 1-19-18  
> theillogicalthinker: How is it so far  
> Shatterpath: i can work on it for some half hour at a time and I've been stress eating like a starving bacteria all damn day
> 
> This has been some of the most difficult writing I've ever done.

Alex selfishly took some long moments to check in with her family and even Maggie. Every bit as tentatively as she had the first hospital visit, Bug laid down carefully with her head on Alex's shoulder, cradled there by her Mama's whole arm and her Mommy's warm torso. Eliza wisely shooed everyone else out so the little family unit could talk.

"I'm sorry you're hurting," Tilly whispered, picking at Alex's hospital gown with restless little claws.

"I know, sweetie, but there's nothing to be done for it. Years ago, when I signed up with the DEO, I had to accept that getting hurt, sometimes even badly, was part of the job. I don't like it, but saving others means that sometimes, I have to put myself in danger." Looking over where hints of red were seeping through the thick layers of bandages, Alex sighed. "Though this is the worst one."

Tilly's pathetic little sniffle had her grownups snuggling closer.

"Can I have a nice, gentle hug, Bug? It will make us both feel better."

Gratefully, Tilly crept an arm around Alex's neck and snuggled her face into the soft hair by her ear. Her little wounded animal noises were heartbreaking. She'd reverted back to the little birdlike sounds that had been her only communication with the twins before the awful neural collars had been taken off.

"Y'know," Alex said hoarsely, her own eyes watering. "The only bad part about really caring for someone? Is that it can hurt. But it's worth it."

Lena nodded where she had curled her whole upper body around Tilly, reaching around her to stroke Alex's head. "It's worth it. We'd be even more upset if it were you hurt like this, sweet girl."

"You're gonna be okay?"

Oh, Alex would have just about sold her soul to be able to assure any of the three of them of that. But she wouldn't lie.

"I should be. There are some of the best doctors in the world here and Grampa J'onn and Gramma are going to make sure I get the best surgeon for my hand, and the best possible recovery. But it's going to be a long time before I'm okay again."

Matilda just clung wordlessly, helpless to know how to deal with this new twist life had thrown at her.

Eventually, there was a knock and Eliza stuck her head in. "The doctors are back."

"Okay, give me ten for the kid and we'll be ready."

"Anything you need, sweetie."

The full extent of what was wrong was waiting right outside the door and Alex had to dig deep around her wanting to either go coldly stoic, or freak out. But, for her family, she could do neither, really.

"I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise to you."

That unexpected apology finally broke through to Bug and she shifted so that she could meet Alex's gaze.

"What promise?"

"That me and your mommy would come back for you this morning."

Astonishingly, the traumatized child laughed just a little, admittedly a soggy sound. "You dinnit do it on purpose."

"No, I certainly didn't, but I don't like breaking promises, no matter how good the excuse. Now, I need to talk to the doctors, okay? And then I bet I'm going to have more drugs because I'm starting to hurt again, and they'll make me as much of a mess as I was before. I love you, sweet girl, both of you, to the moon and back. You be a good girl and go sit with your aunties, okay? I need your mom and my mom here for a bit."

"Okay," Matilda said reluctantly, and cheek rubbed her hero before allowing Lena to gather her up to be taken out of the room.

Her sad gaze lingered on Alex for as long as she could.

Fighting down tears, Alex rubbed hard at her forehead, trying to shake away the cobwebs and letting the fresh hurt ground her. The waves of pain building up her arm were a deeper, darker pain that spoke of far more dreadful things than a bruise.

After a bit, her mother and lover returned with strangers in tow. Lena hesitated just a moment before responding to the little grabby-hand gesture and settling at Alex's left, that hand wrapped up warmly in hers. Eliza settled at Alex's right knee just at the edges of the rig holding the damaged arm and rested her hands around the knee joint. 

Thusly braced, Alex set her jaw and waited for the news.

The years of medical knowledge stored up in Alex's mind were both a blessing and a curse as every level of news hammered home all the more painfully. The dispassionate recount of damages and infection and procedures done and that needed to be done, it shook her.

Even before the pair of doctors finished, she knew the truth of it. Maybe some part of her had always known this would probably be the end result. There was just too much done to her hand to save it. What could she do but hear them out, listen to all options and try and make the best decision she could?

"Is there anything else we need to discuss?"

While she wasn't sure that she liked the arrogant Doctor Gold and his almost indecipherably thick Scottish brogue, she had been assured he was the best hand surgeon in California. So, she supposed she could cut him some slack for being a snob.

Alex cleared her throat and they all waited patiently while she gathered herself to speak. When she did, her voice was clear, but wobbly. "I'd like you to bring in a few of your best students."

Doctor Gold had clearly not expected that, his aloof expression finally cracking. "Excuse me?"

"Look, I was almost an MD, before life pulled me to a different course. This is exactly the sort of badass thing I would have loved to have seen. There's not going to be much good that comes out of this outside of saving my life, but that could be one."

It was clear the arrogant surgeon had no idea what to say. "Uh, that's incredibly generous of you Miss, I mean, Agent Danvers. I do have several protégé that would jump on the chance to observe this procedure, yes."

"Better give 'em a call then," Alex managed to say through gritted teeth as the pain radiating from her mauled limb forced her hand, as it were. It was a drumbeat of agony growing in time to her heartbeat, until it felt like pressure against her skull, pressing too hard on her heart, everything gone dizzy.

There was a sudden flurry of agitated activity and blackness swamped in.

\----

Lightheaded with stress, Lena stared at the door she and Eliza had been unceremoniously shoved out of while additional doctors and nurses rushed in after Alex's had dropped unconscious.

This was a nightmare.

Yesterday had been bliss, the love bites and body soreness still fresh, fireworks still in her immediate memory. How quickly happiness turned to pain.

Lena felt as sucker punched as the news of her brother's crimes, his appalling madness, had reached her, shocked her… broken her.

Some part of her soul had never recovered from those times, from the ugly, horrifying shadow cast by the monster her dear brother had become. Love hadn't been enough to save Lex… would it be enough to save Alex?

"Hey, umm," Maggie started in uncomfortably as she hobbled over and it drew Lena's shaky attention. "I'm really sorry if I overstepped, but I contacted Jess because I figured you were really shaken up."

For a moment, Lena just blinked at her, phone held limply in her hand. Maggie had contacted Jess. She didn't have to. Should she be angry or relieved? Really, this well-meaning, interfering bunch would drive her insane. Yet… now she didn't have to talk, make plans, try not to cry and break down with her friend.

Relief won out and Maggie stiffened and made a startled animal noise when Lena grabbed her in a quick, hard hug, just as quickly letting go. She was relieved and grounded that one hand stayed cupped around her elbow where it had fallen.

"Thank you," Lena barely managed to whisper around the lump in her throat that felt like the weight of the world.

\----

Voices crept in at the edges of Alex's consciousness.

"The sepsis is mild and she's in peak health, so the prognosis is good. We're monitoring her blood pressure closely and have raised the levels of antibiotics being fed through the IV."

Blearily, she found herself staring at her whole hand, her sturdy left that had become her dominant fairly quickly in the aftermath of Hank Henshaw's destruction. She watched the tendons and muscles flex and contract under her skin, the shape of the bones that made up her knuckles, felt the puzzle piece nodules that were the complicated wrist joint.

Fist. Open hand. Fist. Open hand.

She would never do this again with her right hand. She would never raise both clenched fists to fight, never draw a gun, never click a mouse, hold a pen, drive a car, feel her loved one's warmth.

Never again with her own flesh and blood.

"Just you and me now, buddy," she whispered to her good left hand, settling into the initial acceptance of the inevitable before the drugs swamped over her again.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And there was nothing Kara could do but stand aside for others to be the heroes here. All she could do was fight down the trembles, force muscle memory to the gentleness she had learned so painstakingly, move her arm to wind it around Eliza, hug her close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, how I fought with this chapter, you guys have NO IDEA. This angst stuff is freakin' HARD! Keep your spirits up, things are gonna be okay eventually.

Lena had no idea how she caught it, but she did. Matilda looking panicky and bristling in Kara's hold, everything overwhelming her.

"Matilda."

It was kind, but the name was an order for attention and the child's focus snapped to her. This was getting close to Twenty-Six's animal nature to fight or flight and the succor of her new Mommy's voice was a haven. Kara let her squirm away and leech onto Lena, cradled with love and firmness.

"We're going home."

Lena seemed almost as surprised by her statement as the others did.

"You've been a good girl, but it's becoming too much. Gramma and Grampa and Auntie Kara will take good care of Mama."

Oh, how she felt the stiff conflict in Tilly's little body, tail lashing furiously, before she calmed and snuggled in with a nod.

"I'll go with you," Maggie offered before she had to be asked. "Keep me posted? I'll pass anything on to the gang."

Kara left Eliza tucked under J'onn's arm to hug the three of them. "Be safe. We're a family now and we'll all need each other."

There was a tremble to her voice, a hollowness in her blue eyes that was a reminder that Kara had lost so much already. Losing Alex would shatter her beyond repair.

\----

There was a part of her, twelve years old and watching Krypton tear itself to pieces, that wanted to beg Lena to stay. How could she be strong enough to keep herself together, much less lend strength to Eliza?

Then an arm twined around her waist, her adopted mother's head on her shoulder. "We can get through this, together."

Kara huffed out a sound meant to be some sort of lightly humorous affirmation, but came out a broken sob. She had told Alex before that she still too often felt as though she would never feel at home here on this planet, but this family gave her a home. And it was always Alex that was her touchstone, her heart and home above all others. Her heart beat erratically, fast and desperate, slowly suddenly, even alarmingly.

And there was nothing Kara could do but stand aside for others to be the heroes here. All she could do was fight down the trembles, force muscle memory to the gentleness she had learned so painstakingly, move her arm to wind it around Eliza, hug her close.

"Together," she whispered with all the aching desperation in her broken heart.

\----

Lena was fairly certain that she hadn't been in a taxi in nearly ten years, but the experience was the same. And while she didn't like the lack of seatbelts, right now Matilda was not going to let up on her deathgrip anyway.

"I forgot to tell Eliza that I also sent word to Sandy. Because she's amazing and I miss her and she'd want to know." Fishing out her phone, Maggie unlocked the screen and handed it over. In a text message window under the name 'Badass Gran' was a large media file titled 'stoned Alex' with words typed out beneath it. 

_A preview for when you get here. Because I know super competence when I see it and I'm betting that you're already on your way._

_Good bet, dimples. Tell everyone I'll be there soon._

"Do you have everyone's number?" Lena managed to ask somewhat normally and Maggie quirked a little grin out of step with her tense eyes.

"Habit. That reminds me…"

With quick thumbs, Lena watched her tap out to 'Supercat', _ETA, please? Jess would like to have a car waiting for you._

Some minutes passed while the taxi negotiated National City traffic and the trio of passengers were tense and silent as the grave. It was so quiet the vibration of Maggie's phone could be heard.

_I always have something quick to say, it's a survival technique. But not in tragedy. Tell the family that we are thinking of them and will be there soon for support. The pilot doesn't expect weather troubles and we're scheduled to land about 4:15. Our itinerary is attached. Thank you for coordinating, Maggie, you're a good friend._

Lena just nodded after she read it and patted Maggie on the leg. 

It wasn't until they got to their destination that Lena even realized she was so frazzled she didn't even have her purse with her. Maggie just shot her a 'stand down' look and swiped her own card through the reader before painstakingly arranging herself and crutches to get out of the taxi. While clearly tired from far too much hobbling around, she managed. And a good thing too, because Matilda was not letting up on her deathgrip any time soon. 

Kara's loft was notably quiet, the Harts and Susan silently regarding their companions, their eyes aching with empathy. No one spoke, Reba and Kyra quietly helping get everyone settled, jackets put away, shoes removed, snacks gathered, Maggie settled into her recliner with a groan.

Several hours passed broken up by fitful naps and Maggie tapping at her phone. Barely a word was spoken, because really, what could anyone say?

When Maggie finally raised the phone to her ear and spoke into it, every ear in the place was trained on her.

"Hi, Eliza. Of course I will." With a quiet series of affirmative noises and a whole symphony of facial expressions, she clearly telegraphed that the news had not improved. "I understand. Yes of course. Let us know if there's anything you need. Bye."

For a long moment, Maggie only stared at the phone and when she looked up her eyes were glassy.

"They've moved the surgery up due to the infection. She's being prepped now."

No matter the quietness of the words, they hit like hammer blows in the quiet.

\----

Feeling like she couldn't breathe, Lena collected Tilly and retreated to the room in Edna's old place that Eliza and Reba had been sharing. Curling up in Gramma's bed provided some tiny comfort to the duo.

Bug was still and quiet and tense, having no real coping mechanisms for what she was going through. Hers had been a spartan existence with only drabbles of casual affection and becoming so attached to these kind people had left this tragedy to shake her deeply. So she huddled against Lena and just waited.

Lena clung, wrapping her whole body around Matilda and trying not to tremble too much, her mind providing all too graphic imaginings of what her poor tiger was suffering right now. Had only a handful of hours again she'd woken, still abuzz with pleasure and love? The guilt of their sex marathon ate at Lena, tainted those beautiful hours, the sweetness of their new year celebration.

Her tears were a silent thing, the only outlet she would allow herself.

In time her stillness gradually became sleep, fitful and nightmarish. Deep in the grip of the terror of losing her loved ones, Lena bolted awake, panicking at being alone in the bed. For a moment, she almost screamed with the tension and fear choking her before Tilly laying out on the floor with the twins finally registered to her senses. They all looked unnerved, feral natures close to the surface. Gasping for breath, Lena forced calm, sweating and shaking with panic, the effort to push it back. Her heart was jackhammering, breath tight in her chest, mind fractured in a million directions. 

It felt like forever before Lena could breathe again, reality asserting itself around her once more. Only then did the trio of Mutates creep to her, skittish as wild cats, curled their bodies around her, the twins purring soothingly to all of them.

The irony of Lena's right hand tingling back to life from where she must have slept on it was not lost to her. Eventually, she relaxed her grip on Tilly, felt the little clawed hands relax where they had been digging into her neck and shoulder.

"Love you, Bug," she forced out hoarsely and really felt the little mournful birdlike cry near her ear. "Thank you for coming home, Ro. Shan. We appreciate it." For another few long moments, she indulged in the quiet of her animal-like companions before a squirm of her body alerted them to let her up a bit. "As much as I dread facing the others, we need some dinner and to check in with what is happening. Kara and Eliza will need us too. Even J'onn, so far as any of us know him."

Voices were a low murmur as they navigated the pantry entrance and stepped into Kara's apartment. Silence settled as the little party made their appearance, Lena noting that Cat and Sandy had joined them. It was the latter that spoke, her voice kind but implacably firm.

"Come join me, girls."

Nothing was given away by Sandy's voice, no one seemed alarmed, yet Lena hesitated, panic like bile in her throat. Ro had to gently crowd her into stepping forward until she stood at Sandy's knees, looking down into those expressive brown eyes so like her granddaughter's.

"She in recovery now. The hospital called just a bit ago. Her vitals are strong and Eliza and Kara are with her."

There was no fighting the way Lena's knees buckled, a broken sob bursting out of her, terror and relief breaking her in that moment. Strong hands grabbed her, guided her to a controlled collapse, Sandy's arms a welcome haven.

"I've got you, child, I've got you."

Lena stayed tucked under her elder's chin for a long time, Tilly squashed between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, everyone, this was supposed to end here and I marked it wrong in the archive. Carry on to the next part in the series!


End file.
